Think next year might be the time to embark on a convergence plan? Here are the key business elements and a rundown of potential risks.
Identifying the big-picture business case for convergence is easy: Reducing the number of networks you maintain and manage will cut operational costs. For example, you won't need analog line cards in your PBX, and you'll be able to eliminate separate voice cables to desktops. Moving and/or adding employees on one voice/data network is cheaper and easier than doing so across separate networks. Sending voice calls over the data network reduces your reliance on public carriers and your monthly phone bills. And you can decrease the cost of owning and managing separate networks and let your IT talent focus on the benefits, rather than the burdens, of networking.
Convergence also provides rich applications that merge voice, video and data content, like streaming media and videoconferencing. These converged apps can add innovative and revenue-generating enhancements, such as video chat rooms and "click-to-talk," to your CRM and ERP systems. They also can lay the groundwork for instant messaging, enable unified messaging and leverage high-quality digital materials.
Convergence can even reduce your overall bandwidth requirements via innovations in voice and video compression. When done right, VoIP systems can compress voice data down to a fraction of the original bandwidth required for an analog call and still maintain quality.
Business Risks of Convergence
But data networks are not like voice networks. Most enterprise networks use Ethernet and TCP/IP--architectures in which packets can be late, become distorted or even get lost. These network problems don't unduly hamper data applications: Ethernet hardware and IP mitigate many of these concerns on busy networks. But for time-sensitive voice and video packets, quality is reduced if not delivered in real time with minimal packet loss.
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